One easy thing all white people could do that might make the world a better place.
August 30, 2013
One easy thing all white people could do that might make the world a better place.
Watch this interview to see how one person had an impact.
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CJS-360 Diversity Issues 
First off, why do we always assume the worst intentions for people? The term “racist” and “injustice” is thrown around way to much in everyday society. When this woman’s relative approached the store clerk, there was facial recognition taking place. She commented on the fact that the store clerk said I RECOGNIZE the white woman, but she did not recognize her. I work at a tacobell where I see over 500 people during a normal work day. And, about half of those people are considered regulars; I don’t recognize them all. Another point is that this woman automatically assumed a racial disparity with the communication. I will bet anything that the white woman struck up the conversation first. So this woman already had the preconceived notion of “white privilege” and noticed a difference in the communication. She fails to notice that everyone treats every individual differently (store clerks are not robots programmed to do the same thing over and over again). The store clerk knows the white lady does not write forged checks but she does not recognize the black lady. Therefore, requiring her to check her name. A slight inconvenience usually leads the narcissistic individuals to make complaints. As we all know, writing checks has become quite a hassle. Moreover, writing a check out to someone who does not know you. And, if this woman became the “angry black woman”, wouldn’t it be fair to say that the store clerk would be a little hesitant to accept the check without investigating (it would be the clerks job on the line for accepting a known forged check). I bet this altercation only took a few minutes. However, it seems as though a few minutes is a lifetime to any customer. We all remember the Oprah incident with that 30 thousand dollar purse (it was something like that). She automatically assumed racism when the clerk was doing her job. Nevertheless, we have come to a point in society where everything is unequal and the sensitivity is going way out of hand. Also, one last point, self efficacy. Our perception is our reality. Much like President Obama said that all black men have heard the locking of car doors; maybe its because people have a habit of getting our of their vehicles and locking their doors, not because they see a black man. I look forward to every ones comments.
Hey Byron,
I read through your comments and I have some questions and comments of my own that apply to your statements. The first thing is could you clarify why you think racism and injustice is overused? What are you basing that off? I’m not asking for a written report or evidence I just want to know why you think this to be true. Now, when the her relative approached the cashier you claimed that she RECOGNIZED her. Then you went on to talk about your experience at Taco Bell. I understand you encounter a ton of people and don’t always recognize everyone, but her relative had only been living there for a few months where she had been living in the area for years. Who knows if the cashier was new but assuming she had been there long enough it would be safe to say you could tell someone who has been coming to the store for years vs. someone that has only been around for months.
Your next point was that she automatically assumes racial disparity because of the difference in communication. She did not feel race was a factor until she was forced to give two forms of identification. Her relative’s check was accepted without a second thought. Then you said THE STORE CLERK KNOWS THE WHITE LADY DOES NOT WRITE FORGED CHECKS… How do you know this? What are you basing that off??? Then you claim that just because the black lady was forced to show I.D. that she is a narcissist, that’s a heavy term to use based off one situation. How is she selfish or full of herself for wondering why she has to provide I.D.?
Your next claim is that we have come to a point where everything is unequal and people are too sensitive to things. So, do you think people should just shut up and take this kind of treatment? Please let me know what you meant. Lastly your interpretation of President Obama’s claim about African-American men hearing the sound of locking car doors. Your explanation for this behavior could very well explain this behavior, but given the context the President was most likely using it in, which is to explain the fear people have towards minorities I don’t believe it applies.
As for my thoughts toward the video, I am not saying the cashier was WAY out of line for what she did because it must likely is store policy. The thing that makes it different is that if it was store policy than everyone should be checked. As for the title of the article, that doesn’t fly with me either. It’s not just white Americans that should be trying to make the world a better place. It should be up to everyone not just a single race.
It’s difficult to evlauate the circumstances when we were not physically there to observe , but given the innocent testimony of the African American lady who was treated differently in the given situation at the store I believe the cashier demonstrated ill-mannerism towards this lady shopper.
Even if the cashier followed the policy of the store in determining whether the customers’ check are valid or forged, she should have communicated the policy in a congenial mannerism to the African American lady who seemed to have been honest and looked very professional.
Again, she treated the lady who seemed to be white completely differently , even though, she was racially mixed. But because of her lighter skin and having blue eyes she was respected and treatedlly differently.
Hence, this give me plenty of evidence to conclude that the cashier’s intention was very ill and she treated the African American with disrespect.
For sure brother. So the term injustice and racism is over used because if there is even the slightest hint of racial disparity people cry racism. Has anyone met a true racist? It is some scary stuff. We should use BIASED or unfriendly instead because racist implies.. well.. racist. Racism is jim crow laws, segragation, believing a race is inferior (dictionary defintion), or some american history x garbage that nazis propagandize. True racism is evil. We need a different word to express these kinds of altercations. Racism is not just being rude because we have no idea what the clerks intentions were. Plus the black lady said she became the angry black woman so everyone was being rude. Sounds like a convoluted situation by all sides at the end. I used presidents obama words to bring light that it is a personal feeling rather than reality. And, I mentioned oprah in the same context. Now what I mean by the narcissism comment is every single human being on this planet has been inconvienced at one point in there life by a clerk;they don’t make it a big deal. Simply seeing someone does not mean you will recognize them again just because they have “lived” at the location; she did not say she was shopping at the location for that long. And yes, I put in a personal reflection to this because it is relevant. Much like going to the same liquor store to buy alcohol and eventually knowing the clerks and not having to show ID anymore, if the black woman never had previous encounters with the clerk but the white lady had (judging on the conversation they were having) then it is fair to say the black lady should have gotten carded. Now, could she have done it in a nicer way… of course! Simply being an unkind person to someone does not automatically assume racism or racist tendencies. But I will say time has no effect on someone recognizing someone, it is about the impact they make. And, we only see one side of this altercation so I was inclined to defend the clerk. Nevertheless, it was a happy ending with everyone coming to the womans defense.
If the clerk was truly racist she would have not even checked the list and told the lady she wouldnt except it.
And the irrational fear of blacks is what Obama was talking about, much like the irrational hatred for blacks. Extreme similarities because both the fear and hatred is racist.
So to conclude… We could call this incident racially biased, not racist.
I disagree with you that racism is only in the context of Jim Crow laws, segregation and lynchings. Those are extreme examples of racism and hate. Examples of racism occur in everyday interactions with people that do not need to be nearly as egregious as you think to be “racism”. I do believe this woman’s example was a good one and legitimate, primarily because it was legitimate to her and her sister-in-law. Maybe you don’t know what it looks like…feels like…sounds like until you are the object of it yourself.
As stated in my comment i was wondering the whole time, if or why the clerk never stated why she was looking in this book. Even after two forms of identification were provided. I do not know how many people are in the bad check book, but the only reason i would look in there would be to compare two faces i thought that were similar. Now if i did do all of this i certainly would not make a spectacle of the individual, i would be considerate as possible considering the situation, i would either ask for two forms of identification or check the book. i would not do both unless i thought for sure she was the person in the bad check book.
I think this interview does bring some light to the issues that exist regarding racism and white privilege that have been established in our society. It is also important to consider some of the other factors that may have been involved though. With the fact that as a society we are taught through the media and in the world we grow up in about minorities being the overrepresented as criminals, it would not shock me if the clerk acted strictly in a racist manor. However that does not make it right in any way and if anything sheds light on issues that definitely exists. Now whether or not this was actually the case in this situation I think is hard for us to decide based on a short interview from one of the people involved. The clerk very well could have recognized the first sister and not the second one who happened to be black. Therefore acting by standard procedure with the second sister. Whatever the case might have been whether it be intentional racism, an innocent misunderstanding of the situation, or something in between. I don’t think that’s the important thing to be taken out of this. I think the overall message that racism definitely exists in our society and we need to become more aware situations where it is occurring. By becoming more aware of it, I think most people would to do something to change their behavior and more importantly their way of thinking.
This video was not alarming at all, I have seen employees act in such a manner. I think it is distributing that racism is still around today. There should be no tolerance for racism in this day and age. In the Investigating Differences (2009) it says that there are no genetic marks that show where white and black, begin or end (p.12). So, if there are no genetic markings then why do people still judge people based on the color of their skin. As humans we are always going to judge one another. Everybody deserves an equal chance and being able to give someone a chance to prove themselves before jumping to a conclusion based on the color of their skin should be our priority as human beings.
Good point there, this video is letting us know the racism is still around and it’s never going away. No matter what we do, racism will always exist in this world. We are humans, and humans aren’t perfect. We will always judge someone or have somthing negative to say. I agree with you that everyone deserves an equal chance in life.
The title itself ruins the credibility of the video because it (the title) is leading.
The video itself is irrefutably biased towards the black woman. At no point in the video do we hear a corroborating story, or an alternative point of view. The story itself is believable because it’s sensationalist and in its current form, does sound discriminatory. We’re lacking too much information to say beyond a reasonable doubt that the cashier’s actions were entirely unfound. We have no historical view of how the cashier has treated other individuals, we have no evidence of how this woman acted in the store, and we have no evidence this event happened the way the black woman stated or even at all.
Simply put, without any other evidence, I can’t feel sorry for the individual in the video.
Well said
Farhad Barukzoy
Date: Sept 10, 2013
In this article that I have read and watched, an African American woman was treated very rudely based on her ethnic background. Interestingly, her friend was also an African American who was treated differently because she had a mixed ethnic composition. She was lighter and she had blue eyes.
Analysis:
I think it’s important to point out that the white cashier was a victim of classical conditioning; she followed the pattern of not treating African American with decency so she created a scene to prove that she was right or she was doing the business owner a favor.
Racial prejudices have been for long time in this country, some white folks will continue doing that without noticing that they are doing it. It’s a learned belief that blacks are inferior which is we all know is completely ridiculous. I think there was a lack of communication between the cashier and the African American lady; as I have observed over the years, one thing is for sure that we have problem to communicate with people of different ethnic background. Chapter 4 of the text book “Investigating Difference” clearly emphasized the importance of proper communicative skills in a diverse world. Some of these racial issues can be resolved through proper education in the field of intercultural/ interpersonal communication.
I can imagine the embarrassment she felt when her check was inspected by the cashier to find out if it was legitimate or not. Based on what I have experienced in my life and the way I have been treated due to my ethnic background or racial composition I think if that was a white customer in that situation, the cashier would not have asked or made a big issue out of the check.
Therefore, there is still racial discrimination in existence in every social stratum .
After watching this video, it made me realize that one person can make a difference. Your race shouldn’t matter but in the society that we live in, your race does matter. Knowing when to use your white privilege to help others can really change societies view. Being white you have a lot of privilege that can benefit you and others around you if you are using it for the right intention. Having the white privilege in a situation can benefit not only you as a white person but others around you.
In this situation with the store clerk and the black woman, it was wrong for the store clerk to check the black woman check for fraud and not the white woman check. For the black woman to remain so calm and gave the store clerk what she had ask for was the right thing for her to do. If she hadn’t remain calm and did what the store clerk ask her to do, she would have made a bad impression of herself and her daughter in front of the store clerk and the two elderly white women behind them.
The black woman sister-in-law , Kathleen who was mix with black and white did the right thing by intervening the situation and using her white privilege to point out that the store clerk was wrong for doing what she is doing to the black woman. It’s not fair that our society is so caught up on who gets what privilege and who doesn’t.
A bad impression indeed. I hope that this cashier was taken out of the loop for a little while and put through a diversity class or at least sensitivity.
I have to admit I had never heard of being “white” is a privilege until reading Chapter 3 in Investigating Difference. However, it has struck a cord in myself because I am a white women. I have always felt like I grew up in a sheltered environment where I was never introduced to any other race or culture. I also believed this disadvantaged me, as well as anyone with in the community because we did not have the opportunity to learn about other cultures, religions, and races therefore contributing with the ignorant views passed down to us by our families whom also grew up sheltered. So to bring it back to hearing that I am at a privilege because I am “white” was a new thought, and enlightened thought.
We learned from this chapter that there are two kinds of privileges: earned and unearned, which also brings disadvantages: earned and unearned. (Investigating Difference, 2009). As well as, the notion we label individuals due to gender, race and class which then subsequently puts a value or devalues our self worth. The book points out this act is done without some even knowing or understanding what is being done, like my situation. However, the book as well as watching this video has and will help me assess certain situations in a educated manner.
Now to comment directly on One easy thing all white people could do that might make the world a better place, I have to say I do not feel like I needed to be there personally to be able to understand clearly what was happening between the store clerk and the two women. It clearly shows how one women of a certain race, gender and class was treated vs, another women’s. The sad thing is this happens all of the time with all walks of life. Individuals value or devalue each other all of the time. We should be asking ourselves, “How can we all change this action to make the world a better place?” I think what the two women did was courageous and extremely important in respect to the ten year old who was watching this unfold.
I believe this small, some may say insignificant interaction, probably has taught this ten year old maybe the most powerful insight, which is to stand up for injustice. If the two women would have walked out and not said a thing about what had taken place, this little girl, our future, may have learned that this is what you do when you are faced with these situations. You just walk away and miss the opportunity to teach others, whom maybe never thought their putting a value on others due to gender, race and class is wrong, making the action OK.
May we all walk away with the knowledge that we have children all around us watching and learning from us on how to be the person they are going to grow up to be, from our views, opinions and interactions. Please be cognizant on what is being said and done in front of children to help further injustice behaviors from rolling on.
I agree with a lot of what you wrote. I think this comment is right on: “I have always felt like I grew up in a sheltered environment where I was never introduced to any other race or culture. I also believed this disadvantaged me, as well as anyone with in the community because we did not have the opportunity to learn about other cultures, religions, and races therefore contributing with the ignorant views passed down to us by our families whom also grew up sheltered.”
I think not being around other races, cultures, and ethnicities does pass on ignorant (possibly racist) views toward people who do not look, talk, or act like you. Prejudice, stereotyping, and racism don’t just occur by white people’s actions or beliefs; it could be anyone of any color or background. So I don’t think it should be “what white people could do that might make the world a better place”, it should be “what should we do to make people less prejudice or racist towards others”.
I personally believe that interaction with other races, cultures, and ethnicities really does open up your eyes to other people’s experiences with these issues. I love talking to people of diverse backgrounds to see the experiences they have had in life. Some are bad, some are good, but you can learn from everything. When you know people from a wide variety of races, cultures, and ethnicities, it seems to reduce racist beliefs, and increase the belief that people are people; no matter the color of their skin.
As I watched this video I do believe that the African american women was treated differently. then her sister in law in a wrong way. I understand store policy but, the clerk took it to the next level that did not need to be taken. Checking on her check to see if it was valid was uncalled for. I personally would have been upset myself but, kept my cool and not get angry but, simply ask the clerk what the problem was. I do think some people base things off the color of your skin. I think this situation was unfair and uncalled for. Asking for ID it depends if she didn’t do it for her sister in-law then what really was the reason she asked the African american women for her information and took the situation that far?
This interview was interesting, the lady who was interviewed never once said that the clerk stated why she needed to look into this book. Yes, one could say that due to her not being recognized would be a factor, but how inconvenient would that be to look through the whole book without having one similar face in the book you needed to compare? Which in this case the clerk never clarified she even had a face to compare this woman to. This is very rude and insulting to do to an individual, especially after they supply two forms of identification. Which individual would supply two I.d.’s with the intention of having a bad check? This type of situation would only happen by mistake. In addition, the ten year old daughter was aware of the social cues the clerk was giving off and it made her uncomfortable and emotion. If younger children who are not experienced with these situations are picking on these social cues, then the clerk’s intentions are made clear by her unfortunate actions. Without having her relative there would have the other women, stood up to the clerk and told her what she was doing was wrong? I’m happy the clerk was called out on her wrong doings and hopefully she will learn to be more respectful and considerate.
This interview was extremely interesting but at the same time points out the effect racism has on some people. I believe the cashier was out of line on how she handled the overall situation. Personally, it’s sad to say but things like this still do occur. The cashier should have treated both customers equally in order to avoid any problems. If it is the stores policy to ask for two sets of identifications then both customers should have been informed about the stores policy in a professional manner. I am glad the sister in-law decided to stand up and address the problem. That way the cashier knows behaviors such as the one she presented will not be tolerated. I believe companies should train their employees on the importance of diversity so that way their customers and employees can establish better relationships.
I do not think that this was an issue of racism. While we do not know the entire story, only one side, I think this is an issue that any person working with the public faces. Having held many customer service based jobs I have experienced it. There are many businesses, whether a store, restaurant, coffee shop, mechanic shop, etc, that have “regular” customers. There are also many times that an employee may run into a family member or friend in their place of work. For those instances the workers know the person and do not need to confirm the identity, or in some cases the age of the customer. This sounds like that exact situation. The clerk appeared to know the customer and therefore did not need the identity confirmed. It just so happened that the next customer was black and the clerk did not know her so she followed store policy to confirm her identity. Once again, we do not know the whole story, but that is the impression I got from the story.
I do recognize how a person who is racially sensitive would perceive this scenario to be racism. Although the cashier did not fully portrait herself as a racist individual, she merely racially profiled the woman in hopes she would get lucky and catch someone in the act of fraud by check.
The cashier is a young naive girl who was not motivated by hate, however the true nature of the cashier’s opinion of other races is not apparent from this scenario. It would not be fair to the cashier to assume she is racist from the facts that are given.
I hope the cashier learned a valuable lesson and I am glad the customer was patient and courteous, this gave the cashier the best opportunity to learn what she did was wrong.
I cant say racism took place because (1) there were was nothing in the conversation between the clerk and the African American that suggested the clerk was racist, and (2) we will never know the true intentions of the clerk. The clerk could have mistaken the white looking women for another customer that comes in frequently, or perhaps she was recognized because, as commented above, she made an impression on the clerk when they first met. Thus making it completely possible that the clerk felt she did not need to look into her check. On the other hand, the rudeness of the clerk to the African American women may suggest she is slightly biased or rude. However, being slightly biased does not automatically make one racist. Moreover, the clerk may have had a bad in-counter with someone who looks similar to the African American women. It is entirely possible that the whole ordeal was a big misunderstanding, we will never get both sides to this story so all we can do is speculate and nothing more.
2. I really like this story because this at times happens more than we would like to admit. Many times people make judgments about people that are inaccurate and this is not just including black skin verses white skin. It could be a clean person verses a dirty person or a fat person verse a thin person. There is no apparent reason why the store clerk acted that way to the black women. If the clerk believed the woman looked like someone who had written bad checks in the past than that would be a different story. With that being said, even if the black women did look like someone who have written bad checks before the clerk did not need to be so ice cold to the women. I am a white female and I have a black sister-in-law. She is the closest thing I have ever had to a sister and I love her to death. She has had several examples like this story happen to her because of her race. I just hope that one day I will be able to stick up for her like this other sister-in –law did. This story will always be in the back of my mind.
I do recognize how a person who is racially sensitive would perceive this scenario to be racism. Although the cashier did not fully portrait herself as a racist individual, she merely racially profiled the woman in hopes she would get lucky and catch someone in the act of fraud by check.
The cashier is a young naive girl who was not motivated by hate, however the true nature of the cashier’s opinion of other races is not apparent from this scenario. It would not be fair to the cashier to assume she is racist from the facts that are given.
I hope the cashier learned a valuable lesson and I am glad the customer was patient and courteous, this gave the cashier the best opportunity to learn what she did was wrong.
While I only hear the story through this video, it is truly hard to understand whether or not an act of racism in fact did take place. It’s difficult to know what the exact policies are on writing personal checks at that specific Safeway. This story leads me to believe that the cashier has seen a lot of bad checks written by African Americans and has learned not to trust them. Therefore the cashier appears that she has her mind made up on everyone who is African American and lumps them all together in a criminal category or of someone who would knowingly pass a bad check. That is just pure speculation on the thought process of that cashier though and don’t know any reasoning on her part for why she did what she did.
It is obviously very wrong to think just because someone is a certain race that they would be a criminal and therefore it’s alright to discriminate against them. The issue of direct racial discrimination is still very much alive and this story just further proves that point. It would be nice if everyone did get the benefit of the doubt, but sadly, there are people out there that would be just waiting to abuse it and not just African Americans. This story is an eye opener and a perfect example of how one human being should NOT treat another human being and people of all races should take notice. Unfortunately there are ignorant people of all races and these types of situations will never cease and I will do my part by raising my children to treat everyone fairly regardless of their race or cultural background.